Since the advent of the drywall, and its prolific use in the construction of structures, methods and devices have been created to repair damaged portions of a drywall. Generally, there are two common types of reparable damage to a drywall: a small hole or crack; or a large hole. Large holes are typically repaired by cutting out the damaged section of the wall, placing a back board behind the cut-out hole and filling the cut-out hole with a comparable sized piece of drywall. The edges of the cut-out are then taped with paper drywall tape or fiberglass tape, and filled in and covered with drywall compound.
Very small holes and cracks may often be repaired with just the use of drywall compound, by layering the drywall compound over the hole or crack and then sanding it down to smooth it with the rest of the wall.
For holes that are too large to use just the drywall compound or too small to warrant the use of the cut-out and replace method, a mesh repair patch, or a mesh laminated and centered onto a smaller piece of metal, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,017, issued to Hoffman, is frequently used. A mesh repair patch is a small piece of mesh, typically made out of round fiberglass threads, which is placed over the hole in the drywall. The mesh repair patch provides a workable surface for the drywall compound to adhere to in repairing the damage, but can leave an unsightly bulge, or fall away completely from the wall due to the weight of the drywall compound. Alternatively, metal laminate plates are rigid enough to support more weight, but leave an unsightly bulge that is difficult to float out and hide due to the increased thickness of the metal.
There are numerous references that disclose devices and methods for repairing holes in walls, boards, sheets, plates, fiberglass, wood, gypsum board, or drywall using a mesh repair patch. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,380,382 (“the '382 patent”), issued to Daniel R. Hansen, the same inventor of the present invention, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by this reference as though set forth in its entirety, discloses a laminate mesh repair patch that has an adhesive located on one side of the fiberglass mesh adhered and centered onto a smaller separate sheet of dry, water hardenable cement on the front. The mesh repair patch of the '382 patent is placed over the hole, the sides of the patch adhere to the wall immediately adjacent to the hole, and the cement is wetted, allowed to set for about 5 minutes becoming partially rigid, but still movable, and then pushed inward to form an indentation. After the indentation sets relatively hard, drywall compound is applied to make a smooth repair. The partially rigid cement on the front of the mesh repair patch allowed the mesh laminate to be manually indented into the hole by pushing it inward with a hand or finger.
Although the '382 patent was a vast improvement over using the standard mesh repair patch, or metal laminate patches, without the dry, water hardenable cement on the front, it did not entirely overcome the problem of providing a repair patch devoid of an unsightly bulge. Specifically, the '382 patent had a mesh repair patch thinner than the popular metal laminate patch, but thicker than a fiberglass mesh patch devoid of a metal plate. The '382 patent requires that the user spray water over the patch once it is affixed over the hole and onto the wall, and rubbed with a hand to mix the plaster. With the addition of water, the '382 patch will sometimes slide off the wall, or in cold weather, will not stick at all and if the user forgets to indent the patch, the repair process must start all over. Also, if the plaster on the patch is not wetted and rubbed properly, a larger, unsightly bulge may be created. In addition, the water can cause the '382 patch to be messy and typically requires the user to purchase a water spray bottle. Finally, it can take 20 or 30 minutes, depending on atmospheric conditions, for the patch disclosed in the '382 patent to set hard enough to complete the repair. This is a significant downside for professionals in need of an instant repair.
Moreover, several references, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,107 (“the '107 patent”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,952 (“the '952 patent”), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,949 (“the '949 patent”), disclose wall repair devices that provide a stable surface on which to apply a drywall compound to repair a hole in a wall. However, none of these references incorporate an easy to use mesh repair patch and each and every one of these references involves the use of a very complex device or method that is difficult to use or perform. For example, the '107 patent, issued to Schoonbeck discloses a wall repair device that is comprised of two discs connected with a center bolt and nut. The larger of the two discs must be larger than the hole to be repaired and is adhered to the back of the wall. The smaller disc must be smaller than the hole to be repaired. The smaller disc is positioned along the bolt and is locked in place just rearward of the hole. The front and smaller disc acts as a stable platform for drywall compound to be applied. Although the device disclosed in the '107 patent could potentially aid in the repair of a drywall hole, the device is very complex and is extremely limited. Specifically, there is no easy way to modify the discs to fit the randomly sized hole that may need to be repaired. Additionally, it is hard to imagine how the large disc fits through the hole in the first place since it must necessarily be larger than the hole.
The '952 patent discloses a device that includes a flexible plastic plate, which is bigger than the hole to be repaired and is pushed to the inside of the wall and then pulled back against the back side of the wall using a plastic zip key like device. The zip key is attached to a plastic rod, which is positioned on the outside of the wall and securely holds the plate in place. The problem with this device is that the plastic rod is in the way when the user fills the hole with plaster or drywall compound. Additionally, once the drywall compound hardens, the plastic zip key must be cut away as close to the hardened plaster as possible and removed from the patching assembly along with the plastic rod. Accordingly, an additional coat of drywall compound is required to complete the repair and cover the zip key.
The '949 patent discloses a back disc that is held in place in a hole by a bolt while drywall compound is filled in the hole. Before the compound is set, a front dam is attached to the bolt, and the back disc is forced forward, which causes the compound to press forward against the dam. The problem with this device is that it is extremely complicated to use and requires the user to hold the back in place while the drywall compound is applied.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,768 (“the '768 patent), issued to Hoffman, discloses a plastic repair patch, which functions as a rigid substrate to support the weight of a joint compound. The '768 repair patch is typically adhered onto a hole in the wall for repair and preferably includes a plurality of holes on which to apply a drywall compound. While the '768 repair patch may be “flexible” and “deformable” to conform onto uneven surfaces, the '768 repair patch remains too rigid to form an indent. This often leaves an unsightly bulge on the wall, which also remains to be a significant downside for professionals.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 7,971,405 (“the '405 patent”), issued to Daniel R. Hansen, the same inventor of the present invention, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by this reference as though set forth in its entirety, discloses a self-adhesive wall repair patch. The '405 repair typically adheres onto a hole in the wall for repair and generally uses water to create a semi-rigid plastered area. After approximately ten to twenty minutes, the user presses the plastered area to form an indent. A fast-setting patching compound is then added to fill the indented area of the repair patch. Because the '405 repair patch relies on a chemical reaction to form the indent, application of the '405 repair patch often requires skill to moisten and mix the plaster and may become messy when sprayed with water. The user of the '405 repair patch also often has to wait approximately ten to twenty minutes before a repair can be made.
Thus, what is needed is to provide a surface repair patch that is less complex than the prior art; much easier to use; and is cost-effective in repair.